Local TV drama tunes out

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SPENDING on television and film production in Australia dropped by 10 per cent last year.

The amount spent on the production of feature films and TV drama fell from $595 million in 2003-04 to $536 million in 2004-05, according to figures released yesterday.

The Australian Film Commission's annual report also revealed:

■ Local drama produced for Australian TV fell from 722 hours a year in the late 1990s, to 575 hours in 2004-05.

■ In 2004-05, 66 hours of children's TV drama was produced, down from 107 hours the year before.

■ Total spending in Victoria rose 44 per cent, mostly due to big-budget Hollywood-backed movies such as Ghost Rider and Charlotte's Web.

There were 19 Australian feature films made in 2004-05, up from 16 the previous year, but below the 10-year average of 24. The figure does not include 12 co-produced or foreign films, such as Ghost Rider or Superman Returns.

Federal Government sources provided 42 per cent of funding for local film productions, investing $25.9 million in nine titles.

The numbers show the Government is putting less money in, but providing a larger proportion of the funding.

Averaged over the past 10 years, the Government has contributed $32.9 million annually to films, being a 33.7 per cent investor for 14 titles.

A spokesman for federal Arts Minister Rod Kemp denied that Government funding for feature films was falling, pointing to a range of initiatives it has created, including an additional $24.4 million over four years to support low-budget films.

Feature films and TV drama account for 20 per cent of all Australian production. The survey did not include documentaries, sport, news or commercials, which make up 80 per cent of production.

The film commission's chief executive, Kim Dalton, said a Government review of tax codes relating to film investment was welcome, and could encourage more investment. "We expect to see an increase in the number of films in the coming year," he said.

However, the decrease in Australian TV drama was "significant and worrying", with the downward trend of the past few years continuing last year, and broadcasters using cheaper imported programs to fill their schedules.

Twenty-nine local productions worth $187 million were undertaken in 2004-05, down from 38 programs and $214 million in 2002-03 and below the 10-year average of 39 titles and investment of $207 million.

The executive director of pay TV industry body ASTRA, Debra Richards, said the figures released underestimated and misrepresented its support of local production. "It doesn't jell with what we know," she said, concerning figures suggesting that spending by her industry on drama halved from $9.1 million in 2003-04 to $4.4 million in 2004-05.

Ms Richards said the pay TV industry spent $17.7 million on televised drama.